American Idol maven and auburn-haired Broadway crooner Clay Aiken thinks "Washington is dysfunctional." So he'd like to be a congressman and fix all that now, please, thank you very much.

Aiken is officially throwing his hat in the ring to run as a Democrat against conservative Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.), according to the Raleigh News & Observer:

After months of exploring a Congressional bid, he recently decided to put his entertainment career on hold and run.

"I saw this as the best place I could serve, because I think Washington, in general, is dysfunctional," Aiken said. "I think it's high time we put people in Congress who were not beholden to their party, and not beholden to anything but the people who they live around and grew up around, in my case."